Buttoning machine



L.. J. BAZ'ZNI BUTTONING MAGHINE 1H u an .1

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 8, 1924 Feb. 19, 1929.

L. J. BAZZONI BUTTONING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet Patented Fa. 19, 1929.

UNITED STATES `PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS J. BAZZONI, 0F SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CGRPORATION, 0F PATEBSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

Application led September 8, 1924, Serial No. 736,584, and in France June 7, 1924.

This invent-ion relates to buttoning machines. Theinvention is illustrated as em` bodied in a step-by-step buttoning machine designed for use upon finished shoes.

But-toning machines are commonly provided with button-supporting devices in which the buttons to be operated on are inserted before the machines are started. In step-by-step machines, the buttons have heretofore been supported in raceways disposed in an approximately horizontal plane so that the Shanks of the buttons have been positioned substantially vertically. While such an arrangement is highly advantagcous for use in buttoning shoe uppers before lasting and, indeed, for various purposes, the buttoning of finished shoes presents a special problem because of characteristics of finished shoes as distinguished from such artic-les as shoe uppers, gaiters, and the like. The buttons and buttonholes on a finished shoe extend along a curved path which is angularly related to the bottom of the shoe and hence to the top of the toe of the shoe.

= The common practice in the packing rooms of shoe factories is to button all the buttons of finished shoes prior to putting them in their cartons, and the line of the buttons near the top of a shoe is at a very marked angle with the toe of the shoe.V As a consequence, when the buttons of a finished shoe are inserted in a horizontal button raceway, the weight of the shoe as a Whole, and in particular of the heel of the shoe, tends to twist the shoe out of its natural shape and to raise the top of the toe of the shoe toward the under side of the raceway. Under these conditions, the toe will, therefore, be brought past the operating instrumentalities of the machine either at the beginning or at the complet-ion of the buttoning operations ac cordingly as it is a right or left shoe. This makes it difficult to prevent injury to the shoe and in particular to the top of the toe, and the diiiculty all the more pronounced because of the fact that slight scars, which might be disregarded at other stages of the Work, are a serious drawback when the shoe has reached the packing room because here the shoe is substantially ready to be inserted in its carton and sent on to the customer and must present its most favorable appearance.

In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved buttoning machine in which finished shoes may be buttoned Without danger of injury to the shoe. In the illustrated embodiment of the machine, this and other objects are attained by disposing the button raceway 60 in a substantially vertical plane, the button shanks being thereby positioned horizontally so that the natural Weight of the shoe will hold the shoe in a osition more or less parallel to the face oiJ the racewa and the 66 machine and will keep the toe o the shoe in such posit-ion that there is no tendency for it to contact with the raceway or the operating instrumentalities.

In accordance with a further feature of `70 the invention, the racevvay plate is disposed upon the front of the machine, and substantially all the operating instrumentalities of the machine, including the cam shaft for operating the operating instrumentallties, 75 are arranged behind the racewa plate. This further facilitates the desire protection of the shoe since the finished shoe will be disposed on one side of said raceway plate While the operating instrumentalities of the machine are on the other side of and concealed by the plate. In the illustrated embodiment the button feeding finger s the only moving part disposed in front of the raceWay. 86 1 Another feature of the invention resides in the arrangement of the various mechanisrns of the machine, such as the driving, cont-rolling and operating mechanisms, as individual units which are removably .sup- 90 ported in the column of the machine, thus providing for the convenient repair or replacement of the parts.

Other features of the invent-ion will become apparent from a consideration of the accompanying specification taken in connection with the drawings in which:-

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine with parts of the casing broken away;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the frame 100 carrying the buttoning mechanism removed from the casing and vvith the raceway and button-feeding linger detached; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the operating parts at the top of the machine, the casing having been removed to expose the parte, showin a shoe in position in the racevvay.

Vhen a inishcd shoe has reached the packing room of the factory, it is usually desired to button all the buttons of the upper before inserting the shoe in its carton in order that it may maintain its shape and present its best appearance when removed from the carton for display to the customer. To this end, in my improved machine the buttons of the button fly are inserted in the slot of a racetvay disposed approximately in a vertical plane, beginning with the top but-ton if it is a left-hand shoe or with the bottom button if it is a right-hand shoe. Fly-feeding lingers are then engaged With the buttonhole which corresponds to the button which was first inserted in the race- Way, and when the machine is set in motion the first button and the corresponding buttonhole Will be fed by the machine into position at the end of the raceiray Where buttoning instrumentalities Will operate to spread open the buttonhole across the slot at the end of the raceway and to push the corresponding button through the opened buttonhole. The feeding lingers Will then recede to engage the nei-:t button and the corresponding buttonhole and the buttoning instrumentalities will release the parts upon which they have just operated and the cycle of the machine will be repeated until all the buttons of the shoe have been inserted in their buttonholes.

For the purpose of "use in the packing room of the factory, the machine is preferably arranged so that the operator may present Worlr thereto While standing upright. To this end a casing 10 is provided, Which is in the form et an upright rectangular box of such a height that the operating instrumentalities which are disposed near the upper end of the machine will come at a height convenient for the presentation of Work thereto by an operator standing on the floor. The Working parts of the Inachine, comprising driving mechanism, controlling mechanism and operating mechamsm, are enclosed Within this casing and are mounted upon three subframes 12, 14 and 16, each of which is removably supported in the casing 10 by means of crossrods 18 passing through suitable bosses 2O in the casing. Various covers, one of which 1s indicated at 22, provide access to the interior ot' the casing for the removal or repair of the various parts. A driving motor 24 is mounted on the lovvermost subframe 16 and has a geandriven stub shaft 25 which is belt connected to a controlling mechanism comprising a shaft 26 upon which there is mounted an automatic counting and stop mechanism like that described in my application Serial No. 704,519, filed April 5, 1924, the setting of which is determined by a manually settable control lever 28. From this shaft 2G power is transmitted to a cam shaft 30 by means of gears 32 and thence to the operating mechanism of the buttoning machine. A hand wheel 33 is provided on said shaft 30 for the operator in case it is desired to turn the machine over manually. rlhe operating instrumentalities of the machine are like those dcscribed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,497,007, granted lune 10, 1924 upon my application, to which reference may be had for a fuller description of parts not fully described herein.

The button guide or racetvay plate 40 is removably attached to the upper part or the casing 10 in an upright plane substan tially flush With the front of the casing and is provided with a slot 42, the sides of which are connected at their outer or receiving end by a loop 44 somewhat offset from the plane of the rest of the raceway, as shown in Fig. 3, in order to facilitate the insertion of buttons in the slot of the racen-ay. rlhs; Shanks of buttons inserted in the racen'ay Will be substantially horizontal and the .uttton heads Will be behind the raceu'ay plate. its has already been mentioned, the slot of the raceway is disposed in a plane nearly enough a vertical plane so that, as the ra Way supports the shoe, the weight of the linished shoe will not have any tendency to push the top of the of the shoe into contact with the racewag,y or the associated operating instrumentalities. The curved slot of the raceivay also entends upwardly in a direction relative to the base of the ma- Chine exactly similar to the direction which the line of buttons on the shoe has relative to the bottom of the shoe as said shoe is in position on the Wearers foot so that the top of the shoe, including the button fly and the buttonhole liy, occupies substantially its normal relation to the bottom of the shoe during the time that it is being passed through the machine. lt will be noted that a lip 45 provided adjacent to the delivery end of the raceivay turns aside the free edge of the button liy to prevent any interferer.-rc between said bu ton :tly and the buttoning instrumentalities. An aperture 4G pro^ vided in the raceway plate to provide for the pivoting of a notched button-feeding finger 50 (Fig. 1) between the arms 5l of a slide 52 mounted in ways in the subfratne 12 for horizontal reciprocaticn to move the notch of the button-feeding linger along the raceway andfeed the buttons toward the delivery end thereof. l spring 54 is provided between an extension of the linger 50 lil() lil() and one of the arms 51 on the slide 52 tending to push the notched end of the fingerl toward the slot of the raceway, and said notched end engages a recess (not shown) running along the upper edge of the raceway slot 42 so that it follows the path of the raceway slot. Actuation of the slide 52 to secure feeding of the but-tons is effected by means of a lever 56 which, like all of the other buttoning instrumentalities except the buttonfeeding finger' 50, is disposed behind and substantially concealed by the raceway plate and is pivoted to the subframe 12 and forked at its upper end (Fig. 3) to receive a block 58 pvotally attached to the rear side of the slide 52. A link 59, connecting the lever 56 with another moving part of the machine, as will later appear, provides mot-ion for the button-feeding parts by means of which the buttons are fed along one after another and brought to the delivery end of the raceway.

Feeding of the buttonholes of the buttonhole fly, to bring them one after another into position for the insertion therein of a button as it is delivered to the end of the raceway, is accomplished by means of fly` feeding fingers 60 and 62 (Fig. which are attached to a block `64 (Fig. 3) carried at the upper end of an arm 66 which is pivotally attached at 68 (Fig. 1) to the subframe 12. This arm is oscillated by means of a cam-operated lever 70, which is connected to the arm 66 by a link 72 in a manner to be later described, and it is the arm 66 to which the link 59 is connected in order to provide motion for the lever 56, which actuates the button-feeding mechanism. The fly feeders and button feeder therefore move in unison to bring the buttons and the buttonholes of the buttonhole fl into the desired position at the end o the raceway. A cam path 74 in a cam 76 upon the cam shaft 30 actuates the lever 70.

In order to secure the proper positioning of the buttonholes of the buttonhole fly at the delivery end of the raceway, the block 64, upon which the fly-feeding fingers 60 and 62 are mounted, is carried by a spindle 80 which turns in bearings 82 and 84 formed integral with the arm 66. The finger' 62 is rigidly secured to the block 64, and adjustably mounted upon the upper surface of said finger is a narrow plate 86, at the lower end of which is an edge gage 88 adapted to ride against the edge of the but tonhole fiy as the fingers are being moved rearwardly along said fly to enter the nextv succeeding buttonhole, as will be later described. The other flyfeeding finger 60, which is pivotally mounted on the block 64: and has a hooked outer end, is provided with a depending thumb 9() towhich is connected a tension spring 92 normally holding the pivoted finger 60 in contact with the rigid fin er 62. The turning movementof the spint le 80 in the bearings 82 and 84 is controlled by a torsion spring 94 surrounding said spindle and adjustably tensioned by means of a knurled nut 96 (Fig. 1). An arm 100, rigidly secured to the block 64 at the upper end of the spindle, is provided with a roll which is held in contact with a cam plate 98 by the torsion spring 94. The cam plate 98 is preferably adjustably secured to a part of the subfranie 12. A guide member 99 prevents twisting or bending of the arm 66.

The fly-feeding fingers are first se arated by the operator and inserted in t e first buttonhole. To this end, a manually operable lever 101 (Fig. 1) having a finger piece 103 and held in one position by a spring 105 is pivoted upon the subfrarne of the machine just back of the raceway plate Ll0. The left end of this lever 101 is positioned to coact with the lower side of the thumb 90 to lift the finger 60 when the arm 66 brings said fingers to rest position away from the button-inserting position. Thereafter these fingers act to carry a buttonhole to the head of the raceway and deliver it to other mechanism to be described and then7 while the but-tonhole fly is gripped by said mechanism, to travel back along the buttonhole fly with the rigid finger' 62 upon one side of the buttonhole fly and the pivoted finger 60 dragging against the outer side of the buttonhole fly until said pivoted finger enters the next succeeding buttonhole. It should be noted that, in Vview of the fact that the cam track 74 provides a throw of positive extent for the lever 7 0, no provision has been made in the apparatus so far described for the condition which arises when the spacing between various buttonholes is uneven or deliberately varied. To meet this condition and to avoid tearing the button hole fiy when the fly-feedingfingers are moved alongthe fly and enter the next succeeding buttonhole, an iinpositive connection is provided between the link 72 and the arm 66. In brief, this connection comprises a bellcrank lever pivotally connected at one end to the link 72 and at the other end to the arm 66 and having at the elbow of the bell-crank a roll 102 which is guided in a slot of an arm 104 pivotally connected to the subframe 12 and controlled by a spring 106 extending to another portion of the subframe, which tends to hold the end of said slotted arm normally in contact with a suitable stop upon the frame (see Fig. 1). lVhen the arm 66 is being moved forward to deliver a buttonhole to the end of the raceway, the arm 104 cornes in contact with the stop on' the frame and transmits the movement of the lever positively to the arm 66. On the other hand, when the arm 66 is being moved rearwardly to cause the fly-feeding fingers to engage the next sueceeding buttonhole, if said fingers enter a buttonhole before the lever has reached the limit of its movement, then the spring 106 will allow the slotted arm 10d to turn and prevent any damage to the buttonhole fly. For a more complete description of this arrangement, tofether with its advantages in ensuringl a reed of theV buttonhole fly responsive to the spacing between the buttonholes, and other advantages, reference may be had to the above-named Letters Patent No. 1,497,007.

It will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 3 that. the fly is guided by the edge of the raceway l10 in a plane substantially paral` lel to the axis of the buttons in the raceway and that the action of the cam plate 98 is to rotate the spindle 8O carryingthe fly-feeding fingers in such direction that the buttonhole fly is pulled inwardly toward the machine as it approaches the delivery end of the raceway.

When a button and the corresponding buttonhole of the buttonhole fly have been delivered to the end of the raceway, theyT are taken in charge by the lnuztoningl instrumentalities, which are arranged firmly to grasp the button and the butt-onhole fly, to spread open the buttonhole across the delivery end of' the raceway, and to push the button into the opened but-tonhole. One of the elements of this arrangement consists of a raceway closer 110 pivotally mounted upon an arbor 112 carried in the subframe 12 and provided at its end with a notched foot 114: adapted to engage a corresponding` projection upon the end of the raceway and when thus positioned to close the slot of the raceway. A suitable spring 116 (Fig. 1) tends to keep the race way closer in this position but allows it to be pushed aside. A bell-crank lever 120, which is also pivotally mounted upon the arbor 112, is actuated through one arm 122 by a link 124e from a lever 126 carrying a roll traveling in a slot 128 of the calin 76. The other arm 130 of the lever carries at its outer end fly-gripping fingers 132 and 13d, which are arranged to engage the opposite sides olf a buttonhole to hold it firmly in position and to open it across the end of the raceway. rl`he finger 13d is rigid with the arm 130 but the finger 132 is pivotally mounted on said arin and held by a spring 136 (Figs. 2 and 3) in a position determined by coasting abutment-s on said linger and The arrangement is such that the 'iaped finger 132 will contact with the buttonhoie fly adjacent to the right-hand edge of the buttonhole and hold it against the lip L15 on the end olf he raceway resiliently, under the tension of the spring 136. Under the continued movement of the arni 1230, the other finger 13d, s :gripping` the buttonhole fly at the other side of the buttonhole against the racevvay closer 110 moves -lie left-hand edge of the buttonhole across the slot at the end of the button raceway and opens the buttonhole by moving the edges relatively to one another and transversely of the plane of the buttonhole fly. This preventsany serious strain upon the buttonhole fly and allows the finger '131 to prevent the edge of the buttonhole from beingl torn or turned up in the way of the button as the latter is pushed ont of the raceway. At the same time, the end of finger ll, acting through the buttonhole fly, pushes aside the buttoirifeeding linger 50.

To push the button out of the raceway into the buttonhole, l have provided a button pusher 140 on the end oil' a lever pivotally lmounted at L12 in the subfraine 12 and actuated, by a link coiuiection, from a lever J which is moved in a prescribed course a roll thereon engaging with a track 14:6 in the cani 7G. This lever is also provided with an outwardly entending` pin 1&1-8 adapted to engage a slide for the actuation oit a suitable counter 152 to record the number of buttons which have been inserted in the buttonholes. Carried on this same lever which carries the button pusher L10 is a wiper 151i which is adapted to engage the thumb 90 upon the fly-feeding finger GO .in order laterally to displace said finger to remove it from the buttonhole when the bu` ton pusher nieves the button toward the buttonliole in order to prevent interference between the two.

fr finger for clanipinfci` the button against the raceway Vto prevent the button pusher from tipping the button as it moving it out of the raceway is provided upon the outer end of an arm pivotally mounted in the subiranno 12 and pressed forwardly by a spring (not shown) to cause it to engage the crown ot the button and hold its base against the rear side of the button raceway. n suitable cani surface 162 is pro vided upon the 'forward side oi the button clamping' finger in position to coact with a Cain surface on the button pusher 140 so that, as the button pusher is retracted, it liits the clamp away from the buttons in the raceway and7 as it starts forward, it allows the clamp to grasp the button at the end oil the raceway just prior to its removal therefrom by the button pusher.

ln operating the machine, all the buttons on the button fly will be inserted in the slot of the raceway by the operator, beginning with the top button if it is a leftdiand shoe and beginningI with 'the throat button if it is a right-hand shoe. The buttonhole corresponding' to the button which was first inserted in the racevvay will then be placed between. the ily-feeding lingers 60 and 62, which are separated by depression of the manually operated lever 101 to facilitate l l oy this operation, and the first button in the raceway slot will be dragged into the notch of the button-feeding nger 50. As power is supplied to the machine, after the depression lof a treadle, shown in Fig. 1, the feeding lingers 50, and 62 will start forward and carry a button and the corresponding buttonhole into position adjacent to the delivery end of the raccway. The raceway closer 110 will prevent the accidental removal of the first button from the raoeway at thisI time, and as the buttonhole fly approaches a position at the delivery end of the raceway, it will be carried inwardly away from the operator by the coaction of the cam plate 98 and the arm 100 on the spindle carrying the fly-feeding fingers. This Will bring it into such a position that the full width of the buttonhole will be appizoximately opposite to the maximum Width of the button. As the operation of the machine continues, the gripping fingers 132 and 134 will successively contact with the buttonhole fly upon opposite sides of the buttonhole and clamp the right-hand side of the buttonhole against the lip 15 upon the raceway and thrust aside the left-hand side of the buttonhole, pushing it downwardly against the foot 114 of the raceway closer and displacing the `latter and the buttonfeeding finger 50, as well, from the shank of the button. During this movement of the flygripping fingers 132 and 134, the button pusher 140 will have started forward and almost immediately will have allowed the button clamping finger' 160 resiliently to engage the crown of the button and hold it in position at the end of the raceway. As the movement of the pusher 140 continues, it will engage the head of the button laterally and push it out from beneath the clamp 160 into the buttonhole which has been spread open across the delivery end of the raceway. Just after the holding clamp engages a button, the wipei 15e will have engaged the` thumb 90 formed integrally with the fly-feeding linger 60 positively to remove said finger from the buttonhole just prior to the time when the button has passed into said buttonhole. The fly-feeding fingers will then start to move rearwardly (that is to say, to the right along the raceway) while the buttonhole is still clamped by the gripping fingers 132 and 134. As they-are dragged along the buttonhole fly, the fingers 60 will engage the next succeeding buttonhole but will not tear the buttonhole fiy because of the impositive connection which has been described. The button pusher let() will act first upon the side of the head of the button and continue so to act until the button is free from the clamping finger, but as the button enters the buttonhole, it will be turned about its point of attachment with the button piece and the point of contact of the end of the pusher and the button will move around to the under surface of the button head, whereupon the button pusher will slide over the button and pass still further into the buttonhole, thus ensuring the complete insertion of the button. As the fly-feeding fingers are moved rearwardly, the button-feeding finger 50 will also be pulled back until the notch there in has engaged the shank ofthe next succeeding button. The button pusher 140 and the wiper 151 will then be returned to their original positions, lifting the button-clamping linger' 160, and the fly-gripping fingers 132 and 134 will also be lifted to release the buttonhole fiy, thus allowing the raceway closer 110 to return to its original position across the end of the slot of the raceway. The machine will then be ready to begin the operation of buttoning the second button.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a buttoning machine for use on finished shoes, a button raceway provided with a slot for the reception of the Shanks 0f the buttons on a shoe, button-feeding and buttonhole-fly-feeding members arranged to carry the buttons one at a time alon the raceway to the delivery end thereof and correspondingly to feed the buttonholes of the buttonhole fly into position for the insertion of the buttons, and buttonin instrumentalities for opening a buttonho e across the delivery end of the raceway, removing a. button from the raceway, and insertin it in the buttonhole, said button raceway ing disposed in an upright plane and so arranged that the Weifht of the finished shoe will normally hold the top of the toe o f the shoe away from the raceway and the operating instrumentalties.

2. In a machine for buttoning finished shoes, a casing provided upon its front face with a plate slotted to provide a raceway for the reception of the Shanks of the buttons upon a shoe and fastened with the slot in upright position and the plate substantially flush with the front of the casing, and mechanism for feeding the buttons along the raceway and presenting the buttonholes for the operation of buttoning instrumentalities to Y cause the insertion one at a time of the buttons in the buttonlioles, the greater part of said mechanism being arranged within the casing upon the further side of the raceway plate, with the result that the finished shoe is separated from the operating instrumentalities of the machine bythe plate itself.

3. In a machine for buttoning a plurality of buttons of a finished shoe seriatim, mechanism for presenting the buttons one at a time, mechanism for presenting the corresponding buttonholes, members for spreading open said buttonholes, and a with the operating parts of the machine.

e. In a machine for buttoning linished slices, a. slotted plate forming a raceway secured in upright position on the trout tace of the machine to receive the Shanks ot the buttons upon a shoe with the button heads behind the plate, a button feeder for passing the buttons along the raceway, a ily feeder for delivering the buttonhole fly to position a buttonhole at the end of the raceway, and buttoning instrumentalities for inserting the buttons in the buttonholes, said button l'eeding device being disposed upon the front side ont the raceway plate and the other mechanism being disposed upon the rear side of the raceway plate.

5. In a machine for bnttoning linished shoes, a frame, a slotted substantially plane raceway plate secured to said trame with its slot disposed in substantially a vertical plane, buttoning instrumentalities llocated behind the plane of the racewa-y plate and substantially concealed thereby, and a cam shaft for o} 3c1ating said buttoning insti-m mentalities disposed substantially vertically below and on the same side ot the plane of the raceway plate as said buttoning instrumentalities.

6. A machine for buttoning bottomed shoes by inserting by inserting the buttons one at a time in. the corresponding buttonholes of the buttonhole fly comprising a slotted raceway plate for the reception oi the buttons on the button fly, and buttoning instrumentalities associated with said raceway, said raceway and buttoning instrumentalities being constructed and arranged to support the top of the shoe, including the button ily and the buttonhole ily, in substantially its normal relation to the bottom of the shoe during the time that it is being passed through the machine and through the top to support the bottom of the shoe.

7. i machine for buttoning shoes to which the bottom has been applied comprising a substantially plane raceway plate having a curved slot tor the reception of the buttons on the button ily7 said raceway being so supported upon the machine that the slot extends upwardly in a direction relative to the base ot the machine exactly similar to the direction which the line ot' buttons on the shoe has relative to the bottom of the shoe as said shoe is in position upon the wearers toot.

8. ln a vbuttoningl machine relatively separable ily-feeding lingers carried upon a swinging arm to feed the buttonholes of a buttonhole liy one at a time into position for the insertion therein of the corresponding buttons, and a manually operable lever pivot-,ed upon a tired iulcrum in the machine arranged for coaction with said fingers to separate the lingers when the carrying arm is .in a position removed trom the button-insert-ing position.

9. in a machine of the character described, a hollow supporting column, buttoning mechanism within and removably supported in said column at its upper end and arranged to insert a plurality of buttons seriatim, controlling mechanism comprising a device for starting the operation ot' the machine under the control of the operator and an automatic device for stopping the operation of the machine at the conclusion of a predetermined number ot bute toning operations, said mechanism being removably mounted in an intermediate part ot the column, detachable driving connections between said controlling mechanism and the buttoning mechanism, a driving motor removably .mounted within said column its base., and detachable driving connections between said motor and said controlling mechanism.

ln testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification.

LEWIS J. BZZONI. 

